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anyway that got me to thinking about this year at our place if anne had asked me this morning about extreme failures i would tell her my biggest screw up this year was i stopped spraying fungicide too early in the orchard and most of the trees came down with a severe case of scab that resulted in the trees losing their leaves a couple of months early and significant loss in total apple crop my intentions were good but i didn t factor in just how aggressive scab would be in mid july i thought it was more of a spring time issue the second extreme failure of 2026 was ignoring the raccoon that decided to raise a litter in the attic above my shop initially i thought no big deal i thought it was it was kind of neat to hear the baby raccoon chattering above my head with only a 1 2 inch of drywall separating them from me what s the harm in giving her a place out of the elements to raise her young that was all fine and good until it wasn t a couple of weeks ago i noticed the ceiling had started to develop lots of new water stains urine looked like it wouldn t be too long until that ceiling gave way so we figured out how the raccoon was getting into the attic and boarded everything up except one spot we set the live trap and before i was finished i d caught 9 raccoons and 2 small ground hogs raccoon 8 how about you care to share any epic failures gardening or otherwise posted in apple orchard farming food gardening back to eden heavy mulch ruth stout etc iowa life in the country orchard personal random self sufficient uncategorized wisdom tagged apple orchard country living iowa life love personal random self sufficient wisdom writing 3 comments update on irene posted on september 3 2026 by dm earlier this year i d written a blog post about someone we knew irene or iryna whom we had met in the early 2000 s from ukraine if you haven t already read it it is a great back story to the following got an e mail from her yesterday thank you dear d and m i received your transfer yesterday it s a great help for me i paid rent but also had to return debt to ukrainian friend who recently came back from dnipro city she her daughter and grandson spend two months in endless air raids and explosions their train hardly reached the western border because of attacks few times they left it and waited on the field in darkness and rain when the air raid stop and the passengers could continue the journey the train was late for 7 8 hours but another train across the border was waiting for ukrainian passengers i also was going to visit kiev but maybe you heard about unprecedented terror of our capital they have several attacks every day and night transport can hardly go through the city today the building of one university in the centre was harmed when students had lectures hospital and other buildings have destruction yesterday big train depot was ruined 36 workers were killed awful news and they are going to equate kiev region to front line because the situation sometimes is worse than on battle field in the east of ukraine praying for everyone who have to bear that burden and for people who fight for victory thanks for asking my relatives are fine although couple nephews are in the army i m very grateful for your support now i have some problems with joints and knees but due to your help i have food in fridge so don t need to go far and carry heavy bags now trying to use some medical lotion on the legs hope it works my best wishes to you and to all your family and friends on coming labor day and long weekend have a nice celebration and good rest you deserve it you work so hard hope your mother is doing well may god protect her health praying for all of you you are real blessing for me can t express all my gratitude for your kindness help and compassion god bless you richly irene going to throw this idea out there what happens after that is up to you imagine being in your 50 s or 60 s single having to live in a foreign country language barriers you have chronic health issues your family is still living in a country that is at war with russia there are just a handful of people that you know your living in a 350 sq ft studio apartment on a stipend can t find work for multiple reasons health language your age all by yourself barely enough money to pay the rent or food your behind on your utility bills you get the idea imagine how hard it would be to maintain a positive attitude then you get a letter in the mail or someone wires you a little money those little acts of kindness would be huge if you have any interest in being a part of coming alongside irene whether in writing financially etc let me know leave me a comment or shoot me an e mail thank you dm posted in personal random relationships uncategorized tagged current events encouragement family life love mental health personal positive attitude random wisdom writing 5 comments the fragility of america s food system posted on august 13 2026 by dm guest column by mary hunt if there is one thing most people take for granted it is food u s supermarkets are always well stocked and we don t thing much about how all that food gets there when pushed to consider it i wager most of us assume there are huge warehouses somewhere filled with enough food to feed the nation for some unknown period of time the truth is as a nation we have little to no warehousing backup for the event of a supply shortage our concentrate supermarket supply system uses a technology known as jit just in time a method made possible by computers and the internet here s how jit works instead of every supermarket needing a warehouse to store large quantities of food to be sold locally computers keep track of inventory placing relatively small orders daily this precludes the need for massive warehousing retailers know their orders will arrive just in time to keep the shelves filled but who cares about all of this really and why should we as consumers concern ourselves the system even with its occasional glitch and hiccup seems to be working well so why the fuss most people buy food for one week give or take of course there are exceptions for example i have friends who shop once a month and then force themselves to make it last while another family we know shops daily for just the next three meals a very expensive food habit that makes me want to chew my hair as you can well imagine my point is that multiple trips to the market based n individual choice allow us to enjoy fresh food without the hassles of having to manage reserves the integrity of the food supply system never crosses our minds we take so much for granted not long ago i had a conversation with an executive of costco i asked him how long a costco warehouse club s inventor of food would last if suddenly there were no more shipments arriving he hypothesized that the shelves would be empty within three to five days at the same time the manage of my local vons supermarket confirmed with a similar less than a week response now imagine that something happens to make the typical american household want a food reserve this could happen if the current inflation were to morph suddenly into hyperinflation seeing the food prices escalating beyond reach people would rush to buy and hoard reserve food while it is still within their price range imagine what would happen the demand for food would quintuple or more within a short time shoppers would see empty shelves in the market further stimulating panic buying just as in a hurricane or blizzard the best thing we can do to protect ourselves and our families is to prepare the more food you have in storage the less dependent you are on a system that some theorize has only a three day supply in its distribution chain i tell you this not to cause you to panic but to move you toward action start small buy a few more of the items on your regular shopping trip if you would normally pick up four cans of green beans get six instead of one bottle of honey get two but if it s on sale get four for a normal short to mid term storage inventory you should stock up on the foods that you are used to eating if your family cannot tolerate red beans don t waste your time and money on a 25 pound bag because for some reason that seems like a good idea instead invest in your favorite canned white albacore for example taking control of your family s food resources is empowering and satisfying the more you grow your food supply the less dependence you ll feel on others the more nonperishable food you have in reserve the better you will sleep at night mary hunt is the founder of everydaycheapskate com a frugal living blog and the author of the book debt proof living she invites you to visit her at her website where this column is archived complete with links and resources for all recommended products and services dm here this article was in a recent epoch times my wife read to me this morning over coffee nothing i hadn t already heard or thought about but thought it was worth passing along to any new readers secondly mary s book debt proof living changed my life about 12 years ago went from tens of thousands of dollars in debt to completely out of dept no additional source of income just an attitude shift can t begin to tell you the difference that has made in my mental health especially as a self employed carpenter whose income can fluctuate a lot from year to year if there is financial pressure in your life you owe it to yourself to get a copy even if it means going to the library just saying posted in enjoying life food gardening back to eden heavy mulch ruth stout etc life in the country personal random self sufficient uncategorized wisdom tagged country living family food health life personal random self sufficient wisdom writing 22 comments pecking order posted on august 1 2026 by dm this will be short pecking order is a thing it happens in school it happens on the job and it happens on the farm last week we had a family reunion on saturday when some of the grandkids wanted to see the chickens noah age 5 charged into the hen house ahead of me no sooner than he walked through the door than the rooster charged wrapped his wings around his legs he was wearing shorts and tried to spur him with his spurs most people adults included would have lost it noah having grown up around chickens just laughed and popped him on the head a couple of times i loved seeing noah s reaction i proceeded to snag mr rooster by the feet and brought him outside for a talking too even though a chickens brain is probably smaller than a peanut they are not dumb they can read you like a book if they sense fear they will respond accordingly even though mr rooster is only doing what he is designed to do protect the flock he stepped over the line when he took after noah if any of you ever come to visit one of the things i would like to do is introduce you to my fowl friends if you re game i ll even teach you how to properly hold an aggressive rooster and show him whose boss a boy and his rooster here s a picture of my dad with his rooster dad and his rooster pecking orders love to hear your thoughts posted in aging chickens enjoying life farming iowa life in the country personal random self sufficient wisdom tagged backyard chickens chickens country living iowa life personal random self sufficient wisdom 4 comments the kids are back in town posted on july 25 2026 by dm this will be short we are in the midst of a family reunion this week i told someone on wednesday that when the kids were still in the home it felt like i was flying by the seat of my pants 95 of the time mentally exhausted dealing with one thing after the other many times issues nobody had ever talked to me about it felt like i was trying to lead our little troop through the amazon jungle couldn t see 5 feet ahead of myself until one day suddenly we stepped into a clearing and realized i d made it i was still standing that s what it felt like when the last one left the nest and i was no longer responsible for them like i d been when they were living under my roof those of you with older kids may relate once they move out and start building a life of their own the times everybody is together the same time is precious especially when some of them live out of state well this week all four my little cubs were home the same time my heart is full christmas 1989 siblings almost the whole clan one grand daughter couldn t make it she moved to montana and started a new job a week ago posted in enjoying life personal relationships uncategorized wisdom tagged life personal random wisdom 13 comments lucky s forever home posted on july 23 2026 by dm those of you that took the time to suggest names for the one baby chick that survived the raccoon carnage thank you i ve settled on lucky i also changed my mind and bought another 15 baby chicks to keep her company they arrived early yesterday morning what was fascinating about lucky to me was how quickly she bonded with me and how much she craved my attention as soon as i picked her up she got quiet and pensive wanted to climb up my shirt and stand on my shoulder that s not the only thing she did on my shoulder if you get my drift normally i keep the chickens i have here on the farm for a couple of years then send them packing i ve decided in lucky s case she won the golden ticket i m going to let her live here as long as she wants here s a picture of lucky and i from just a couple of days ago lucky and i sharing a quiet moment together posted in chickens enjoying life farming iowa life in the country of grit and bone random relationships uncategorized tagged baby chicks country living iowa life personal pets random 15 comments i caught the culprit posted on july 20 2026 by dm mystery solved this morning on what got into my chicken coup see last post for 3 nights in a row whatever it was kept coming back eating all of the bait tripping the live trap and getting away yesterday a friend of mine loaned me two smaller live traps thinking if it was a weasel they might work better so i had 3 live traps all baited with marshmallows last night when i went to bed went out this morning marshmallows all gone two traps were tripped and there it was a small raccoon lesson learned a small raccoon can squeeze it s body through a horizontal hole that s less than 3 inches high rather than put a bullet in it s head i took him on a 5 mile road trip he ll have to swim across a river to get back to my place the one remaining chick seems to be imprinting on me as it s parent it wanted to perch on my shoulder this morning when i went out to do chores still too early to tell if it s a hen or a rooster i think i m going to keep it long term throwing this out there any suggestions on a name dm posted in chickens enjoying life farming iowa life in the country of grit and bone personal random self sufficient uncategorized tagged baby chicks back yard chickens country living iowa life personal pets random 11 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